In the case of a character input method of a numeric keypad type employed in mobile phone terminals of the past, twenty six alphabetic characters and other several symbols are divided into respective groups of numeric characters, and one key is assigned to each group, for example.
In this character input method of the numeric keypad type, a user presses a key assigned to a group including the character that the user wants to input, as the first procedure. Next, as the second procedure, the key is repeatedly pushed to switch the characters in the group assigned to the key in turn according to the number of times the key is pressed, in order to make the characters selectable. Then, as the third procedure, the user stops pressing the key, when the character that is switched and made selectable becomes an intended character. Thereby, an intended alphabetic character or an intended symbol is input.
In the case of this character input method, the key is to be pressed a plurality of times to select a character that the user wants to input, and thus the user performs cumbersome work such as repeating the key press operation. Hence, for example, Patent Literature 1 proposes a character input method in which one character is input by one key operating action.
In the character input method described in Patent Literature 1, twenty six alphabetic characters and other several symbols are divided into respective groups of numeric characters, and one key is assigned to each group, for example, in the same way as the character input method of the numeric keypad type of the past. Then, in the character input procedure in this character input method, the user presses a key assigned to a group including the character that the user wants to input, as the first procedure.
Next, as the second procedure, when the key keeps being pushed, the characters in the group assigned to the key are switched in turn at constant time intervals to make the characters selectable according to the key press continuing duration, and then the user stops pressing the key and gets the finger off from the key when an intended character appears. Thereby, an intended alphabetic character or an intended symbol is input.
In recent years, mobile phone terminals having a touch panel are becoming prevalent. Terminals including a touch panel are becoming prevalent not just in mobile phone terminals, but also in personal computers and the like. In some terminals including a touch panel, a virtual keyboard depicting a keyboard is displayed on a display to perform character input when inputting characters.
Also, in personal computers not including a touch panel also have a character inputting function using a virtual keyboard.